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Craft Brewery Conflict Mediation

–To better understand the arguments behind Craft v. Crafty, see links at the end– There is a heated debate between a few large breweries (AB-InBev, MillerCoors, etc) and more than two thousand small breweries across the U.S. and some other countries. To get a quick outline of the situation, the large breweries bring in about …

Last week, Magic Hat and West Sixth breweries reached a settlement of a trademark dispute without going to court. According to initial reports, a magistrate judge served as mediator and the official dispute ended within a week. We applaud both parties for choosing mediation to seek a mutually agreeable solution and avoid expensive, drawn out …

The Ugliness Surrounding Trademarks It seems the Strange Debacle was not enough proof of the sensitivity and power of social media. West Sixth Brewing and Magic Hat Brewing Co. are engaged in a trademark dispute that has quickly spilled over into the social stream. Each brewing company has plenty of supporters and detractors, and many …

According to the Brewers Association, the U.S. is home to over 2,300 craft breweries, with more opening each week. Added to the international, national and regional breweries the total number of breweries in the U.S. eclipses 2,400. Each brewery produces at least 2 different types of beer, and most breweries assign names to their brews …

How to Manage Brewery Employees 101 So, you have your own craft brewery. A dream come true: you make beer, drink beer, and sell beer all in one setting. You have a following of beer geeks who like your product. Feels good, right? Aside from financing and the occasional equipment hiccup, things seem to be …

What’s More Important: Definitions or In-Fighting? The Roman Empire fell from within. Sure, Alaric and the Visigoths sacked Rome, but it had grown vulnerable in the decades and century before. Loosely governed expansion, disconnect with member “states” and in-fighting doomed the once powerful empire. Craft Brewing is mirroring this empire. Ok, ok…so the analogy is …

Last week, Washington D.C. was inundated with craft brewers and beer geeks as the Brewers Association’s Craft Brewers Conference was held in the nation’s capital. This conference was a mix of trade shows, seminars, receptions, tap-takeovers, and special events around the city. My hotel was in Georgetown and found a great little pizza/beer spot just …